Tuesday, 31 May 2005

I'm sure our mother's and grandmothers will be so proud of us... getting their poor man's dish to be publicised in the World Wide Web! This is another round of my homemade dish effort. My previous one seems to be quite well received by the Malaysians. Some of them so homesick, aiyoh poor souls. Never mind, cook your own ok.

Check this dish out...

Familiar??? It's something either you hate it or love it. Yes, it's salted fish steamed with some lean meat. In the olden days, salted fish is a poor man's staple food. All they do is either steam it or deep fried the salted fish to eat with their rice with some fu yue (a type of fermented beancurd in Cantonese). However, the price of salted fish has been escalating and it's no longer a poor man's dish. Thanks to the ever enterprising restaurants who uses salted fish in their dishes like claypot chicken rice, stir fry kailan with salted fish or stir fry beans sprout with salted fish!!!

Well, not that I really fancy salted fish cos I will not go all the way to eat or find them but my hubby suddenly developed a craving of it one fine day. He went on a salted fish hunt, yes, to find a type of salted fish he used to take when he was a child. With the wide array of salted fishes available... he went on a wild goose chase for not knowing the actual name of the fish nor knowing how it looked like before cooking! Each time we go to the wet market, he sure stop by some of the stalls just to check out the salted fish. Sighhh... anyway, he beh tahan liau (can't stand it or can't wait any longer) one day, he just took one bottle of salted fish soaked in oil off the supermarket shelf. After we got home, he had totally forgotten all about it until one day I saw that and suggested to him that we make something out of it. Wahhh his small small eyes suddenly grew so big hehehe waiting in antipation for his long awaited craving.

So there I was, slicing lean meat into thin slices before adding a wee bit of soya sauce and cornflour. Topped the meat with one slice of salted fish. I forgot what's the type of fish ok, well not that I can differentiate them hehehe, it could either be kurau (Treadfin in Malay) or tenggiri (Spanish Mackerel in Malay). Next, sprinkle ginger strips all over before steaming. Best eaten with hot hot rice or rice porridge. Hmmmm...... it has been a while but to see the delight in his face... hehehe so cute! Needless to say he wallopped everything...

Friday, 27 May 2005

A couple of hubby's friends from Philippines came over for some business and they brought along some gifts and goodies for all of us, yes my boiboi got something too. It's very very sweet of them and finally I got to meet them after hubby talked so much about them.

Amongst the goodies received were these two boxes. Can you take a wild guess what are these??

The moment I opened them, I nearly jumped for joy. One box contained the oh so familiar ensaymadas which I have not eaten for more than 2 years!!! The other contained something that I've not tasted before... cheese roll. This is my first time trying this Mary Grace bakery and my first seeing each of them being individually wrapped. They looked so neat. Hubby usually buy the other brand (which I can't recall now what it was) from the airport.

You might be wondering why am I so excited over the ensaymadas hehehehe... it's actually a buttered roll topped with grated cheese. Some come with fillings like yam paste. The roll looked like a potato bun (from Giant/Carrefour/Jusco bakeries) but it's thicker. The texture is very very fluffy and it's rich buttery taste is really unforgetable! The slight salty Edam cheese helped to overcome the cloying sweetness of the roll. Can't eat too many in one go, else you'll feel stuffed the whole day. I can say this Mary Grace's ensaymadas are so much better than those from the airport and they are very very fresh.

My new found love... cheese roll! These are super soft, fluffy and melts in the mouth. How the heck they made the roll so soft and fluffy??? Amazing! I supposed they must have used a lot of butter heh. They're not as rich as ensaymadas though. These cheese rolls are dough wrapped around a stick of cheese (I think could be Edam) with a sprinkling of castor sugar over them. Hmm... and the cheese stick actually did not melt at all. Well maybe the dough is thin enough to be baked for a very short time only in the oven. My boiboi thoroughly enjoyed them.

Thank you so much to the both of them for all the wonderful gifts and especially these two lovely delicacies! *muaks*

Thursday, 26 May 2005

Miss Sweet 16 went up north to the town of Ipoh (about 2 hours drive from Kuala Lumpur) in Perak recently and she bought me some delicious goodies. She has always been very sweet and generous especially to her chee muis (sister in Cantonese) like me. How not to share with you guys huh? Hehheh...

Inside the goodie bag, there is this packet of spice biscuits.

They looked oh so pretty in spirals and the brownish part is where the spice part of the biscuit. From what I gathered after one mouthful of it (whilst photopgrahing them, hehehe me greedy greedy, can't wait hahaha), the spices in there may have contained 5 spice powder, cinnamon and pepper but I may be wrong. The label doesn't help much as it just mentioned spices as one of its ingredient. The biscuit is rather thick and its slightly chewy instead of crispy. Rather wonderful texture to munch on whilst savouring the spices taste.

Now, this is how typically a packet of hiong pheng (literally translated as Fragrant Biscuit in Cantonese. It's a type of Chinese pastry found here in Malaysia.) looked like in the olden days. The hiong pheng bakers knead the dough and slap on the sticky muk ngar thong (maltose in Cantonese) mixture in the centre. Roll into a ball before flatening it. Sprinkle some sesame seeds on top and they are then sticked (err due to the stickiness of the dough actually) on the sides of a cylindrical charcoal oven to be baked. Strangely such pastries are usually found in a few towns located in Perak state ie. Ipoh (the city of Perak), Sitiawan (where the concentration of the FooChow clan is located. BTW, I'm a FooChow gurl from KL who can't speak a single word of the dialect. Oit, don't blame me ok cos my grandfather don't speak to my dad in FooChow since my grandmother is a Cantonese.) , Bidor, Kampar and Tanjung Malim.

The hiong pheng has very very crispy pastry that practically breaks when one bites into it. Kinda messy when one bite into it. The pastry practically "fly" everywhere! And when you bite into the centre, the filling is soft, sticky and chewy... striking a very contrasting balance indeed. Hmmm... lovely!

Thank you Miss Sweet 16! She bought these goodies here (I presumed) as stated on the goodie bag. Hey, next time drive the bigger car and bring me along ok ;-)

OK, now the modern version of hiong pheng packaging looked like this. These were given to me by my colleague whom balik kampung (go back to hometown in Malay, a very famous two words used especially during the festive seasons where the town dwellers will back back to their home towns scattered across the country) recently to Kampar. Each hiong pheng is individually wrapped in foil packaging to ensure freshness. I must say the modern packaging does served it purpose well cos each biscuit is extra crispy and fluffier. However, to the die hard fans of olden method of packaging, this particular bakery DOES have the usual plastic bag packaging as well. I know cos my colleague had bought me those before from the same bakery.

Once opened up, they looked like these. This one you can see the maltose centre clearly. I've friends who bought me some plain hiong pheng before. It's not that readily available and not all such bakeries have them. Actually I quite like this version too cos the pastry is very flaky and crispy minus the sweet and sticky centre.

To get the modern packaging ones, try this bakery next time you are in Ipoh.

Tuesday, 24 May 2005

Yay the circus is in town!!! Well not that it left town haha... The Royal London Circus were touring in the Klang Valley (1 Utama & Klang a few months back) and current stop is at Mines South Lake, Seri Kembangan which is quite near home.

6 months back I was contemplating whether to bring boiboi to the circus but I did not. I'm glad actually cos at that time I'm not sure if he could sit down for the whole 2.5 hours show. So this time, there is no excuse.

And so here we are right at the big top.

This was the entrance.

Fantastic view of the lake, yeah this time the circus site is right next to a lake. One can park at the Mines Shopping Fair and take a water taxi right up to this jetty in front of the circus.

Boiboi was very excited as we entered the big top cos there were ponies, tigers and lion within the compound. We got in and settled down. The show has begun...

With the loud music and colourful costumes of the performers, it was indeed a loud start! My boiboi was thumping his feet, jiving his body and tapping his fingers on his knee to the rhythm. The ringmaster cum clown showed up with this Filipina singer.

This was the first act... Wheel of Suspend. Two wheels suspended on both end. Two guys did various things to keep it in balance. This guys is super cute, don't you think so?

Straw Hats Acrobatic Juggling was next by the boys from Shandong. They were fast and cute. My boiboi was fascinated.

Then elephant act came out. Woo no cage or barrier around the ring. Cool!

Next up was the pony act. The trainer cracked his whip so loud that startled my boiboi. Made him close his ears with his palms and huddle to his daddy so hard, urrghhh! He hates cracking sounds ie. fire crackers, balloon bursting etc. Really spoil his trip!

At least the dog and cat act lit him up a bit.

Then our worst fear came! Urrggh in one of the clown acts, this one was on bursting of balloons. Goshhh, my boiboi huddled up to his daddy, closing his ears with his body. One palm on the other ear and the other palm was over his closed eyes!!! So heart breaking. Daddy have to hug him to hard. When this act was over, I tried pacify him with some cakes I brought along. Luckily he was ok by then but I know he's not comfortable.

When intermission came, he asked us to go home. We have to pacify him further and bought him cotton candy and popcorn. Funnily, he dislike the cotton candy, maybe becos of the melt in his mouth feeling texture. Thank goodness he was busy with the popcorn and did not asked us to go home.

The Shandong Boys were at it again performing the Hand Balancing Acrobatics. They were great! Rolling around and round...

More balancing stuff...

There were many other acts but the photos did not turned out well due to the speed of the acts. And so the last act was The Sphere of Terror where 5 bikers were inside a steel globe goind round and round in high speed. I know this one my boiboi enjoyed a lot. By this time, he was already lazing on his daddy body. I guess 2.5 hours is too much for a lil kid like him.

So that's the end of the show with this colourful parade...

When curtain closed, we over heard many kids asking their parents "No tigers and lion??" I know they were disappointed and so did hubby. I guess we got cheated eh??

We hang around for a while in the compound as boiboi wanna check out some animals there... pheasant, monkeys, birds, ponies...

Whilst walking back to the car, I casually asked boiboi if he liked the circus. He nodded his head. I asked him next if he would wanna visit the circus again... he SHOOK his head!!!

Saturday, 21 May 2005

I'm very happy that I could meet the deadline this round. I've here a very simple and quick to prepare recipe which I've found in Flavours magazine (May-June 2004). This particular issue featured homestyle Japanese receipes and this dessert is one of them. It mentioned that macha ice-cream is the most instantly recognisable Japanese dessert, this fruit compote exemplifies the delicate nature and presentation of Japanese sweets.

Turn the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to chill in the fridge.

To prepare jelly, soak gelatine powder with a little water to soften. Add hot water and stir till gelatine is dissolved. Add in white wine, stir and mix well. Set aside to cool before chilling it set for at least 4 hours in the fridge.

To serve, arrange the apple slices in a bowl and add apple stewing liquid. Spoon the jelly into bowl and garnish with strawberry slices, and serve cold. This recipe serves 2.

NOTE: I've replaced the white wine with apple juice so that my boiboi can eat them as well. It seems like I might need to use more apple juice for the jelly as it was not sweet enough and it was rather tasteless. I've unsweetened apple juice in my larder so maybe next time I might need to use the sweetened one instead and use less water. AND I do not have any strawberries either, so presentation wise, it looked kinda lacking.

Thank you Elise for hosting this round of IMBB.

Update:You must check out Elise's fantastic round up of the IMBB! It's full of photos, I like the layout very very much. Kinda tedious work there but Elise DID IT. Thanks again.

Friday, 20 May 2005

Yeah, was it Only Mee (pun intended) who felt short changed after visiting Only Mee outlet? I read about it in the papers which mentioned that they serve noodles made right at the restaurant. I was hungry and saw this shop nearby so we just walked in.

Decor looked like one of those fast food joint in bright orange. The wait staffs consisted more foreigners than locals even those behind the cooking counter. One local shoved us the menu which has photos showing the various noodles available (not that many choices too). Goshhh, they all looked so unappetising (I think I can take better photos hehehe), well, I guess too late to back out huh??

Anyway, we placed our order of two Chinese tea (RM1.50 per cup and no refill, blehh!) and Green Thai Curry Noodle (RM7.90 each). Sighhh I really regretted the moment they bring the tea and cutlery. Everything's in white plastic, urghhhh. For that kind of price, gosh, it's really terrible.

When I see my noodles, I really no mood already. Plus the silly wait staff (not sure he's from Myanmar or Nepal) gave us the ladle type of spoon aiyohhh silly him we're not eating soup noodles. So I asked him to change. Dang sian (bored in Cantonese) man! Everything in white plastics urrghh (again?? but aiyoh)! (Really lah for the price we're paying, can't use metal ones meh??)

Ok about the food, the colour don't look apetising and one mouthful confirm that it's not tasty at all. Very bland. The noodle which tasted like normal wantan mee is topped with a few pieces of chicken breast meat which is so tough that one throw at the wall, will dent the wall! Apart from noodles, tough chicken meat and bland green curry; it has some bean sprouts on it.

So if you happen to come across this noodle place call Only Mee, please don't bother ok!!! The one I went to is along Jalan Bukit Bintang. After crossing the road, I noticed upstairs they have something called Only Pot which sells steamed rice in ceramic pots with various toppings. Next to Only Mee is the Mmm Yum Yum Bak Kut Teh chain. Looks like these three places are under the same management! *horrors*

Well, if you happens to think otherwise, please don't flame me ok. One man's meat is another man's poison. Our tastebud is just ain't the same!

I've meant to blog on these places but I don't have any photos to back me until I saw them on SixthSeal. Thanks Huai Bin. Wonderful photos you've there.

Kedai Makanan Mun Wah Hokkien Mee, Jalan Maharajalela near Choo Cheng Kay Flats serves potent hokkien fried mee. However, I find these day they are not as consistent. Some days they fried up till it's dried which I liked but other days they'll come very wet with too much gravy swimming in them. Open in the evening only.

There isn't that many choices here but rest assure that ALL of them are tasty and delicious. They arrive fast too on your table. However, this is one place that you must endure the heat cos you'll be sitting under zing or the shady trees. Also, don't come here on your Manolos or Jimmy Choos and your Gucci neckties heh!

Coming here is pretty straight forward BUT to find the right makan (eat in Malay) place is the problem. You see, ever since this place gotten famous, there are 2 other competitors being set up and operate opposite them. They are equally as good but their taste is somewhat different and the cooking style is different too. Show you a map here.

If you come from Jalan Sg Besi, turn into Jalan Tiga after the petrol kiosk. Go further down the road to somewhere in the middle. This place is located on your right err look for a shack ok hehe... Parking is a big headache here since it's a busy industrial area. You may park by the road side if you're lucky to find a place or if you're early enough, you can park inside the compound of this place. BTW, this place is open for lunch only on working days.

Wednesday, 18 May 2005

I had meant to blog this last week but I didn't until I saw the comment left by Carol. She was inspired by my blog to widen her homemade dishes repertoire haha... the power of a blog. Gosh, I feel so humbled.

Sometimes when my lazy bone strikes, I'll just keep everything simple. Yeah very very simple, easy to cook and hardly any cleaning is needed. The thing with Chinese stir-fry is, it's very messy around the stove area. So much wiping need to be done urrrghhh... Simple to me means steam, blanch and omelettes. Hehehe... lazyman dishes.

So here is one Carrot Omelette. Darn I could have submitted this for last month's IMBB orange theme. Nevermind, there are many more IMBBs coming. Just need to cut carrot into strips. Season the lightly whisked eggs with some soya sauce and pepper. Fry the carrots with some oil till soften, then pour eggs over. Wait for it to set before turning over. Once browned, dish up.

Can be substituted with long beans. Renee of Shiokadelicious have a long post on this.

This I guess it's almost every Chinese fave homemade dish - Steamed Minced Pork With Tung Choy (a type of preserved vegetable, can't seem to find any resources online. Will post up the pic later.). Mince lean pork with a chopper. Add in the washed preserved tung choy and continue chopping till the meat is minced finely (depends on your liking). I've used the electric chopper before but it doesn't yield a satisfactory taste. The meat doesn't have that "sticky" texture and the meat kinda like falling apart instead of sticking together. Add in some soya sauce, pepper and a dash of garlic oil. You may top it with some fried chopped garlic. Now, the essential part is to add a little water to this meat whilst mixing. I didn't realised this until I asked my mom how come my minced meat texture is rough and touch too like a rock!!! In the olden times, people tend to chopped in some fats which is why it was never rough nor tough. Hahaha... so that was the secret - water! Another version of this recipe can be found here.

All these dishes can be eaten with rice or best with plain rice porridge. Sorry ler the photos were kinda bad due to bad lighting and they were taken with a haste too hehehe...

Tuesday, 17 May 2005

Simple to dish up, just cubed up all your ingredients to about the same size ie. chicken meat, bell peppers in various colours, baby corn, carrot, water chestnut, button mushroom and so forth.

Marinade chicken cubes with some soya sauce, pepper and dash of sesame oil. Heat up oil in the wok and add in the chicken. Brown it lightly. Place the various vegetables in starting with those harder to cook. Quickly stir fry them. For seasoning, pour in some oyster sauce to taste. You may want to add a little water to soften your ingredients. Stir fry till it's dried. Dish up and scatter some roasted cashew nut on top before serving.

Monday, 16 May 2005

Due to the recent increase in the price of the fuel... looks like the price of goods will be shooting up, well for us the consumer at least. Sighhh... my favourite bowl of noodles have increased 50 sens from RM3.00!!! Arghhh... just check out these hilarious comics I received from Satine. LOL!